


call my name as you walk on by

by cheschi



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, Gen, General Shenanigans, High School AU, because we all know this would never make it to be a full-length fic, heads up though you will probably see zutara and sukka and maybe some taang among other things, probably mentions of memes too, that one high school dance™, this is just a really high school High School AU, you will probably find all the tropes known to man in this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2018-12-23 18:50:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11995851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheschi/pseuds/cheschi
Summary: High school is meant to be the best time of your life, but whoever said that clearly never went to Four Nations High School.or, glimpses of the gaang in a high school au written in parts(1) Jet and his Freedom Fighters commiserate about crushes and the injustices of the politics of Math teachers(2) "Who names school dances like Game of Thrones episodes?"(3) Zuko, Katara, spin the bottle and closets of sorts(4) Sokka launches his crusade against Four Nations High's vegetarian cafeteria options





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i swear i didn't intend for writing drabbles to be my solution to not being able to write and finish whole-length fics
> 
> title is from don't you forget about me (yes, _that_ song from the breakfast club)

“Stop it, Jet,” Smellerbee said. “It’s getting creepy.”

Even Longshot had to look up from his book at that comment and he proceeded to give the boy next to him a disapproving look.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jet rolled his eyes, leaning against the wall of the steps. He focused his attention on his phone, even though all three of them knew that he didn’t actually have any notifications. A total of around  _five_ people had Jet’s number, and two of those people were her and Longshot.

Smellerbee rolled her eyes at him and turned to look at where Jet had been looking. She squinted, looking through the crowd of six teens walking towards the cafeteria.

A bald head that kept bobbing up and down as the owner of that head practically bounced off the ground. Nope.

A mess of shaggy black hair accompanied by a sulking expression. (He was in her Math class and he was nice enough; it wasn’t like he  _tried_ to look sullen so she figured it just his natural resting expression.) Definitely not.

A small figure next to the bald head and fists curled up like they were ready to hit somebody. Not quite.

A half-ponytail and a bright red crop top. Somewhat close, but no. 

A man-bun and a boomerang waving in the air, the other slung around the aforementioned girl’s shoulders. Still no.

A flash of long brown hair and wide blue eyes.  _Bingo_.

Katara was waving her arms wildly in the air, gesturing at something her brother had said, eyebrows furrowed. In a split second, the expression on her face shifted as Suki poked her in the side and she turned on her, swatted her hand away and then started laughing and proceeded to pass the poke to Zuko, who dodged it.

“She’s too good for you,” Smellerbee snorted and Jet put an arm on her head and leaned on it with his full weight.

"She can't be too good for me if I'm not interested," he replied, ignoring the way the sunlight bounced off Katara's hair and how her face lit up when she smiled at her friends. It wasn't that he was jealous of their friendships; he already had that on his own. He wouldn't mind, though, if she smiled at him like that. 

Longshot tapped his watch and the other boy groaned. “Math class already? What the hell man, Long Feng  _hates_ me.”

“Long Feng hates everybody.” the quieter boy finally spoke up, but it was really more an attempt to reassure Jet than it was an attempt to be truthful. Yes, Long Feng hated everybody, but it seemed he had a special hate for the leader of the Freedom Fighters. Maybe the only person their teacher hated more than Jet was Toph Beifong, and that was only because she threw an eraser at his head once. Jet had snickered at that, and somehow _he_ had been the one to receive a detention that was an hour longer than Toph's.

So scratch that. There probably wasn't anyone their hell-sent teacher disliked more than him.

Jet gave a resigned sigh and stood up, straightening his battered combat jacket and brushing off imaginary dust.

“You know movies feed you all this crap about high school being the best time of your life,” he said darkly. As they walked towards the doors of the school that seemed to loom over them, the older boy slung his arms around the shoulders of his two companions. “But you know what, screw all that. Whoever said that clearly never went to Four Nations High School.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my stress coping mechanisms include writing about cliche tropes

"The Crossroads of Destiny," Sokka read aloud, squinting his eyes at one of many posters that lined the walls of the corridor. Flyers were taped up on every door and water fountain and locker and any surface that could hold up tape.

Zuko wrinkled his nose, "Who names school dances like Game of Thrones episodes?"

"You know," Toph said, "If these dances actually had more fire-breathing dragons and undead armies then maybe, just _maybe_ , I'd actually consider going to them."

"Hey! Dances are _very_ fun," Katara said, maneuvering her way through the halls to pull her clipboard out of her backpack and pull out her a single pen from one of the many compartments in her backpack in one swift motion without bumping into any opening lockers or students.

"Any time someone has to _justify_ that something is fun probably means that it's not actually all that fun to start with."

"...Toph has a point."

Katara stopped midway, causing the entire group to come to a full stop behind her unless they wanted to end up like a pile of fallen human dominoes. Which for the record, she was pretty sure they did not. She narrowed her eyes at her brother and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I didn't hear you saying that at the Avatar Day Dance last year," she said. "You were humming _'Kyoshi'_ for a whole  _week_ after it played at the dance."

"Everyone knows only reason he went anyways was because of Suki," Zuko muttered.

"What was that?" Katara said, voice turning sweet a moment too soon. Zuko knew that sound. It was like the moment you stepped onto the ice and realized that the ground beneath you wasn't as stable as you thought and then you ended up falling through the whole thing and eventually dying. That is, after hypothermia got to you.

"...Nothing," he replied.

Satisfied, she turned her attention back to her brother and her smaller friend. "Don't listen to him, Toph. Come on, you love loud music and the gym at school. Dances are just like that, except people don't hit the floor because they're judo-flipped, they just dance on it and end up stomping on the gym's hardwood to the beat of some Selena Gomez song."

"One, that gym floor should be sacred, and two, you are _not_ signing me up for one of your little committees." 

"But planning is the best part," Katara said, her eyes getting that magical glow they did whenever she talked about arranging bundles and bundles of crepe paper and arranging strobe lights so they made the stage look like it was underwater.

"Sokka's right; Toph does have a point, Katara," Zuko started. "I mean, I didn't start going to them until last year." 

" _Only because you were dragged_ ," Sokka coughed under his breath.

Zuko shot her a scathing look. "And I turned out fine. Probably. For the most part. Point is, Toph and Aang have their whole high school lives ahead of them to do the whole dances thing. There's no point in rushing into things if they don't want to."

"One day," Katara promised. "We're all going to go to one of these dances and that day might not be any time soon, but it is going to happen and it is going to be a blast. And you're all going to end up thanking me."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara, Zuko, and the closet of two lovers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GOD I HAVE SO MUCH TO DO AND I HAVE SUCH SHITTY COPING MECHANISMS SO I WROTE THIS IN LIKE 15 MINUTES FDSOHSDHFSDOF

"Don't take this personally but I kind of hate your sister right now."

From the outside, he felt someone kick the door and the floorboards beneath them rattled. He wouldn't be surprised if it was Azula.

Zuko sighed. "Don't worry. You're not the first."

He closed his eyes and pressed his hands against his eyes. He could hear the thumping of the music from downstairs and some Carly Rae Jepsen song blasting from the stereo in their living room, which was probably because they were playing Ty Lee's playlist. God, he couldn't believe Azula had given her free reign over tonight's music. There was a sudden pause followed by loud chanting. " _Sokka_! _Sokka_! _Sokka_!"

Yup, they'd brought out the beer keg. 

There was a rustling of fabric and he heard her turning around to face him.

It was Katara's turn to close her eyes and throw her head back. "I hope Suki stops him from doing anything stupid."

He didn't say anything. A stray coat fell on him and he sneezed, rolling it into a ball and stuffing it behind him.

"How do we _always_ end up in this stupid closet?"

Zuko made a face. "I think the question is how do we always end up playing spin the bottle at these things."

Katara titled her head, looking up at the faint greenish light that illuminated this closet and he knew she was thinking the same thing as him. It had once felt like there were miles between them in this closet. It was hard to believe that this was where their first real conversation had happened, all those months ago, backs turned to each other at first. Uncle Iroh had opened the closet at the same time Azula had jumped in front, trying to stop him, but it was too late. The moment had broken between them and within the next hour, after an earful from Uncle about how they were much too old to be playing truth or dare and stuffing people in closets, the party had died.

He could see her outline in the closet, her face lit up by the light overhead. Her blue eyes looked like the color of the ocean as the green light fell on them. God, if he could, he really would punch himself. Maybe he'd ask Toph to punch him after this.

They'd only really become friends after that day, even after he started hanging out with Aang and the gang. They'd started talking after Azula's birthday but they'd never talked about what had happened during the party in this closet. It was strange, how clearly he could remember that conversation.

_I was the first person to trust you!_

_My mother died in that fire._

And maybe, most importantly, the cool feel of her fingers on his cheek.

No one had touched the scar before. He'd never let them. 

Without meaning to, Zuko's hand went to his face, touching that area where his scar war. Katara's face softened, like she was remembering something and suddenly she was in front of him, hand reaching out. Her hand brushed against the scar, and his forehead was touching hers now. The only thing between them right now was the musty smell of this damned closet and the mothballs gathering at the side. If either of them leaned forward, there wouldn't even be that. His heart tightened. This close, he could feel hers thumping to the rhythm of the music from the party.

" _Time's up, Zuzu_!" Azula yelled from the outside, and the lights in the closet flickered back on, blinding him.

He and Katara pulled away at the same time, just as the doors flew open, and his sister's smirk greeted him, along with a hoard of her friends all readied with their phones out and not even hiding their disappointment that they hadn't managed to catch anything on camera.

With a sigh, he stepped out of the closet and offered his hand to help Katara up.

Azula's parties were the _worst_.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so the past few weeks have been super shitty and writing fic is how i cope. hope you enjoy this lil drabble

"No," Sokka cried, falling to his knees. "No no no no no  _NO_ \--"

He stood up and stared down the ominous bright yellow sign that hung from the door of the cafeteria, oblivious to the lines of teenagers forming behind him who were hungry for lunch and eager to get in. 

"Sokka, you're blocking the way," Katara said in exasperation, pushing her brother aside. She rubbed her temples and glanced at the sea of students behind her. It was a little early for anyone in the Gaang to find something to protest about this early into the semester. Last year, the earliest thing that had happened was Aang starting a strike on the front lawn because the school was going funding for the theater program and give it to the soccer team. Sure they'd all helped him that hadn't happened until _November_. It was only September now.

"I don't care," he yelled, waving the crumpled poster in his hand. "This is a violation my student rights--hell, this is a violation of my hu--"

"If you say human rights, I _am_ going to smack you." Toph said. 

"What's up?" Aang said, falling into line with the rest of his friends.

"Sokka's about to beat your record for earliest petition started during the school year," Zuko said. 

"I'm going on a hunger strike," Sokka announced.

Toph snorted, "You can't go one meal without meat, even if it is that meatloaf from the cafeteria. What makes you think you can last a whole day without any food?"

Aang raised his eyebrows. "What's the issue here again?"

"The issue here," Sokka said, enunciating every word, "is this."

He jabbed a finger accusingly at the sign. "The cafeteria is cutting off meat for the next two weeks."

Aang gave him a stare. "Don't you think that's a little dramatic, Sokka? I mean I lived without meat for most of my life."

Sokka paused at that. Aang had become so well adjusted to their little circle and life at Four Nations High that Sokka could barely imagine or remember what life was like before him here. Hell, he could barely remember what life was like before Zuko turned a new leaf and stopped being an ass, let alone what it was like before Aang had moved here. It slipped his mind completely sometimes that the younger boy had been raised on some commune and come to the school for the first time in actual _robes_ , not knowing what a hoodie was. He forgot sometimes that Aang was raised by monks, save for the fact that he was always reminding them to eat healthier and go vegan (which Sokka veto-ed every time, and which Katara elbowed him for _every. time.)_

"Yeah, but you that's 'cause you grew up with cows or whatever before you came here."

"I don't get it," Zuko said. "It's not that bad that the cafeteria is trying out vegetarian options."

Aang beamed at him. "You do get it! I knew you would come around eventually." He looked ready to hug Zuko, who noticed this and took the smallest step to the right.

"Not that bad? If you don't get it, then you _clearly_ don't know me well enough." Sokka huffed.

"Just you wait. I'm going to get the whole school on board with this," he said, mentally naming a list of people he could get to rally for the cause. He could probably get Jet and the soccer team on board with finals on the way. Suki and the gymnastics team would be willing for sure, because aside from the obvious fact that she was his girlfriend, if there was anyone who needed meat more than him, it was those all those damn athletes. He had his gaming team on his side for sure, and if not, he could always bribe those nerds with an advanced copy of Legend of Korra that he'd snagged from the Beifong party giveaways. 

Sokka eyed the cafeteria carefully, plotting out the tables and cliques in the room like they were pawns on a battlefield. By hook or by crook, he was going to get his meat back. 

 


End file.
